Monday, April 18, 2011

My Mom, the Style Icon

One of my favorite new blog discoveries is My Mom, the Style Icon run by Piper Weiss who recently published a book inspired by her blog. The blog and the book feature incredible vintage photos of stylish moms sent in by her readers and friends. I love looking at old photos and recently I've been sorting through my own family photos and coming across some great shots of my own stylish mom as well as my dad (who was also super stylish!) taken during the '60s and early '70s. Coming across My Mom, the Style Icon inspired me to share some of my favorite photos.

What surprised me when looking at these photos is how much my own mother has influenced my sense of style without me ever realizing it. My mom passed away in 1997 but by that time I was regularly wearing mini skirts, Mary Jane shoes and hairbands (or headbands) similar to what my mom is wearing in these photos. I don't wear mini skirts anymore but I do like to wear skirts a lot and I still wear Mary Janes as well as colorful Keds, various plaids and I love large sunglasses and hairbands.

My own mother, with help from my grandmother, made a lot of her own clothing. Some of the things she's wearing above were undoubtedly made by my grandmother with my mom's help. She used to tell me stories about how she would look at catalogs and spot things she couldn't afford but my grandmother could reproduce them effortlessly. According to my mother, her side of the family came from a long line of seamstresses who even worked for the Queen of England at one time. Unfortunately my mother never taught me to sew and I failed all my Home Economic classes so I don't think I inherited the family sewing gene.

I highly recommend making a stop at My Mom, the Style Icon or picking up Piper Weiss' new book. They feature lots of colorful eye-candy as well as thoughtful tributes to mom's from the past and their various personal styles.

Thanks for the comments, ladies! I love the My Mom, the Style Icon blog. I spent a few hours there yesterday looking at all the photos so I just had to share.

Dana@Mid2Mod: My mom was born in 1939 and was married in 1965. I think you might be a little younger but I love the fact that you shared similar wedding dresses. It was probably a popular style at the time. I'd love to see pics of you in your dress. Have you posted at at your blog?

Sparkleyneely: How cool is it that you friend's mom is in the book?! I really want to get myself a copy. I just love the whole idea and the pictures I've seen are so fabulous.

About Mid-Century Living

Welcome to Mid-Century Living! My name is Kimberly and I'm a longtime admirer of mid-century design. My husband and I recently bought our first home and it's a beautiful old custom built 1954 atomic ranch house in Napa, CA. I plan to share my adventures in home restoration and remodeling as well as various decorating tips, gardening and landscaping ideas, recipes and anything else that falls under the banner of "Mid-Century" or "Living." I'll also be writing about local issues and various things that interest me as a new home owner. I hope you'll enjoy your stop here!